The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-12-26

event, some one dismounting from
swift camel at their door aud knocking till
at some sentiners question, Who comes
there" the great ones Of the palace might
have been told Of the celestial arrival No;
the shepherds heard the first two bars Of
the music, the first in the major key, and
the last to the subd ed minor: "Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth pt ace,
good will to men, Ah, yes; the fields were
honored The old shepherds with plaid
and crook have for the most part vanished,
but we have grazing-our United States
pasture fields and prairie about
45,000,000 Sheppard all their keepers
ought to follow the shepherds of my text,
and all those who toll In fields, all wine
dressers, all orchardists, all husband
men. Not only that Christmas night
worlds history God has been honoring the
fields. Nearly all the Messiahs of reform,
and literature, and eloquence, and law, and
benevol nee have como from the fields
Washington from the fields jefferson
from the fields The Presidential martyrs,
Garfield and Lincoln, from the fields Hen
ry Clay from the fields. Daniel Webster
from the fields, Martin Luther from the
fields. And before this world is right. the
overfiowing populations Of our crowded cit
les will have 10 take to the fields. Instead of
ten merchants in rivalry as to who shall
sell that one apple, we want at least eight
of them to go out and raise apples. Instead
Of ten merchants desiring to sell
that one bushel of wheat, we want
at least eight of them to go out
and raise wheat. The world wants now
more hard hands, more bronzed checks,
more muscular arms. To the fieldsl God
honored them when he woke up the shep-
herds by the midnight anthem, and he will,
while the world lasts, continue to honor the
fields. When the shepherds crook was that
famous night stood against the wall of the
Bethlehem kahn, it was q prophecy of the
time when thresher's fail, and farmers
plough, and woodman's ak, and ox's yoke,
and sheat binders rake shall surrender to
the God who made the country as man
made the town.
Behold also that on that Christmas night
God honored motherhood. Two angels on
their wings might have brought an infant
Saviour to Bethlehem without Mary's being
there at all When the villagers, on the
morning of Dec 26, awoke, by divine ar
rangement and in some unexplained way,
the child Jesus might have been found Ia
some comfortable cradle of the village.
But no, mol Motherhood for all time was
to be consecrated, and one of the tenderest
relations was to be the maternal relation,
and one of the sweetest words "mother." F"
In all ages God has honored good mother
hood. John Wesley had good mother, st.
Bernard had a good mother, Samuel Budgett
a good mother, Doddridge a good mother,
Walter Scott a good mother, Benjamin
West good mother. In a great audience,
most of whom were Christians, | asked
that all those who had been blessed of
Christian mothers arise, and almost the
entire assembly stood up. Don't you see
bow important it is that all motherhood be
consecrated. Why did Titan, the Italian
artist, when he sketched the Madonna make
it an Italian facet Why did Rubens. the
German artist, in his Madonna make ii a
German facet Why did Joshua Reynolds,
the English artist, in his Madonna make it
an English facet Why did Murillo, the
Spanish facet never heard, but think
they took their own mothers as the type of
Mary, the mother of Christ. When you
hear some one In sermon or oration speak in
the abstract Of a good, faithful, hon.
est mother your eyes fill up with
tears while you say to yourself, that was my
mother. The first word a child utters is
apt TO be, Mother" and the old man in his
dying dream calls, "Motherl mother!n 1t
matters not whether she was brought up in
the surroundings of a city, and in affiuent
home, and was dressed appropriately with
reference to the demands of modern life, or
whether she wore the old-time cap, and
great round spectacles, and apron of her
own make, and knit your socks with her
own needles seated by the broad fireplace,
with great back log ablazs on winter
night It matters not how many wrinkles
crossed and re-crosSed her face, or how
much her shoulders stopped with the bur
dens of a long life, if you painted a
Madonna hers would be the face. What
a gentle hand she had when we were sick,
aud what voice to soothe pain, and was
there any one who could SO fill up room
with peace and purity and hghts And
what sad day that was when we came
home and she could greet US not. for her
lips were forever still. Come back, mother,
this Christmas day and take your old place,
and, as ten or twenty or fifty years ago,
come and open the old Bible YOU used TO
read and knee in the same pl ce where you
used TO pray and look upon " as of old
when you wished us a merry Ch ristruas or
a happy New Year. But, no! hat would
not be fair 10 call you back. You had
troubles enough, and aches enough, and be-
reavements enough while you were here
Tarry by the throne, mother, till We join
you there, your prayers all answered, and
in the eternal homestead of our God we
shall again keep Christmas jubilee
together Bat speak from your thrones,
all you glorified mothers, au1
say to all these, your sons and daughters,
words OF love, words or warning, words OF
cheer. They need your voice, for they have
travelled far and with many heart-break
since you left them, and you do well to call
from the heights Of heaven to the valleys of
earth, Hail, enthroned ancestry! We are
coming Keep place for US right beside
you at the banquet.
''slow- footed years. More swiftly run
Into the gold of that unsetting sun.
Homesick we are for thee,
Calm land beyond the sea-"